Kickstarter Feature – Mythos
A couple of weeks ago at Daffcon I took part in a demo game of Mythos, created by Paranoid Miniatures. It was great fun and I was particularly impressed by the design and story of the characters.
The folks at Paranoid Miniatures have launched their Kickstarter now, so I thought it would be timely to do the follow-up feature I promised in my earlier post. However, it occurred to me that it would be even better to let them speak for themselves, so I’m happy to hand over to Mark from Paranoid Miniatures.
“Paranoid Miniatures came together 18 months ago, formed out of a group of five friends who have been gaming together for decades. We came together to progress an idea around a skirmish game inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft.
The game is set in the classic Lovecraftian era of the 1920’s which evokes the feel and atmosphere that Lovecraft is so well known for. As part of the initial design process we looked at all aspects of Lovecraft and right from the outset we wanted to create our own take on Lovecraft and not “cut and paste” what other companies had created.
This decision has meant freedom for us, a chance to take Lovecraft’s principal ideas and run with them in our own style. We wanted to ensure that the game mechanics really did give you a feeling that you were playing a Lovecraftian game, so sanity, madness, darkness and horrific entities were all key elements for us to include.
A further decision which we think has really added value to our project is that we all took individual factions to design. We think this has really made the Factions have vastly different aesthetics and gameplay. As individuals this has meant we have been responsible for the Factions concept art, final character artwork, character gameplay mechanics and also 3D sculpting.
As part of the actual gameplay design we have a number of mechanics which really evoke the feel of Lovecraft. One key element is that as a character progresses in the game and the more “Mythos” they tap into, the more insane they become eventually resulting in that character flipping their stat card to the reverse side and thereby activating a number of different abilities some of which may be negative some might be positive. This allows for one character to be played in different ways.
We are also creating different ways in which to play Mythos. We are keen to develop gameplay beyond just one off games and in that respect we will be writing linked scenarios so that players can take their Factions through a story campaign. We are also working towards an “RPG” style of gameplay where players can create their own characters and progress and “level” them through a story campaign.
Overall, Mythos is a skirmish game which is easy to pick up and learn the fundamental game mechanics but has a great deal of depth and tactical play. Players are challenged through a game to make decisions and take risks but are then rewarded (or not!!!) for those decisions.”
I really like that Mythos doesn’t just slap ‘Cthulhu’ on another game or setting, but explores the ideas and themes of HP Lovecraft’s work in a new direction with an original narrative, whilst also drawing on some great folklore.
If this looks like your sort of thing you should back them on Kickstarter – the Pledge levels represent great value for money for some very nice miniatures and a cool game.
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